If you haven’t seen my Skin Witch video, watch that.
But if you’re like Nah on that, here’s the deal: I started getting acne out of nowhere–persistent, tiny little pimples along my jawline, and I had no idea what was causing them. My aesthetician didn’t know, either.
At first I got really, really obsessed with fixing this problem. But none of my usual tricks were working, which, to me, meant I was dealing with a situation I’d never dealt with before. This pissed me off even more, and eventually I got really mad at my skin. Like, cuckolded lover mad. And I got really obsessed with trying to fix the problem.
Luckily, I know something about myself: I get obsessed with things very easily, and that obsession leads me down a path of ruin. It does not make me happy: it only leads me into depression. So I stopped. I completely stopped trying to solve the acne problem, and decided to try a totally different tack.
I put all my skin-fixing stuff away. Anything that had treatment or exfoliationg properties I hid in a drawer. I kept my prescription Curology, because I use three different prescription medications and I decided one was fine but three was too many. I stopped using my Clarisonic. I stopped using my Good Genes. I stopped using my glycolic acid wash.
Week 1: My skin started looking better. Noticeably better. Like, after-sex glowing better. The acne was still there, doing whatever the hell it was doing, but the rest of my face was like…velvet. I shit you not.
Week 2: Skin started really improving. The acne break-outs started calming down, and my cheeks started looking very smooth but not shiny. I liked what I was seeing in my mirror.
Week 3: The acne went away, but honestly, I don’t know that it is cured. Maybe it’s just going through a fallow period. Lying in wait. I don’t know. Plus, it could be that in addition to removing exfoliants from my routine I also added in some products I was testing. (More on that soon!) So I can’t attribute this factor to my new routine, but I wanted to document it.
Week 4: I started noticing that the comedones I struggle with on my chin have come back full force now that I haven’t been exfoliating, so I:
- Extracted those comedones carefully with my comedo extractor
- Slowly introduced my Clarisonic back into my routine. I’ve used it a handful of times, but not like I did before.
- Started adding some resurfacing products back into my routine (mostly stuff I’m testing out). The acne has completely cleared up and hasn’t come back. I am still not using 2 or my 3 acne medications.
What caused the change?
Damned if I know. I’d be lying to you if I told you I knew why my new routine is working. But it’s been about a month now, and my skin looks radiant. I’m looking forward to sharing some updated product reviews soon.
So what’s the lesson learned?
- Take a break from your regular routine sometimes and reevaluate if what you’re doing is still working or if your skin needs have changed and you didn’t notice
- Taking a 2-week break from my exfoliants was great, but three weeks was probably too long. My skin definitely needs exfoliation so it’s important to get that timing of that break right
- Take time to appreciate your skin and not just focus on it’s flaws; don’t obsess over shit that doesn’t matter
- Skincare is a journey, not a destination. And just when you think you’ve got it figured out…
I’ll keep you updated on how this new routine is working out. And if it turns out to be a long-term change, I’ll do a new night routine post!
No Comments